As a glass mosaicist to the one percent, Allison Eden has installed elaborate tile creations in enclaves like Palm Beach and Southampton. But, as of this year, her work can also be found in Astoria, Queens.
That’s because Steve and Alexandra Cohen, the billionaire owners of the New York Mets, recently hired Eden to freshen up their Citi Field owners’ suite with custom basketweave tile. “They wanted something fun, but clean-looking and bright,” she says, “and a wow factor for the suite.”
As stadiums become more upscale, sports team owners like Cohen are transforming once-drab boxes into swanky oases. Gone are the days of 20 seats, an attendant, and cheese pizza under a heat lamp. Today’s owners’ suites are part-boardroom, part-living room, part-dining room. And the remodels can cost a fortune.
Some owners, like the Atlanta Falcons’ boss Arthur Blank, tap their personal interior decorators while others use stadium architects. “They're getting better and better and more high-end,” says sports banker Salvatore Galatioto, who has hobnobbed in many such suites.
Owners’ suites are indeed some of the most hard to come by real estate assets in the country. The Yellowstone Club, a Montana mountain resort beloved by the Aspen-Hamptons-Florida set, has around 800 residences. Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas, another billionaire haunt, has nearly 400. But there are only a hundred or so professional sports owners' suites in America.
One designer who has worked on these spaces says they’ve seen rare fish aquariums, museum-quality artwork, and wine rooms. Other owners prioritize sourcing from nearby artisans. Eden, who lives in New York City, says the Cohens hired her in part because they wanted to support a New York artist. Blank’s interior designer, Suzanne Kasler, says she prioritized local craftsmen, as well, such as Michael Dillon, an Atlanta-based blacksmith. He designed Blank’s suite’s winged door handles, paying homage to the Falcons’ name, and the staircase’s handrail, which resembles talons.
In 2024, the Kansas City Current—owned by local business leaders Angie and Chris Long, as well as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany—became the first National Women’s Soccer League team to open its own dedicated stadium. Christina Franklin, who helped lead interior design for the Current’s stadium, says she embraced the city’s iconic art deco architecture in the stadium and owners’ suite. She says, “It’s easy to do in the sense that the 1920s lended itself towards luxury and high-end details.”
The New York Islanders’ owners’ suite—located in UBS Arena on Long Island—takes cues from upscale Manhattan hospitality staples. “You can see references in the premium spaces and in the owners’ suite, in particular, to Bemelmans, the King Cole Bar, and Sardi's and other iconic New York lounges and bars,” says Jason Katz, one of the top executives at Value Retail, the company owned by New York Islanders governor Scott Malkin.
Owners’ boxes have also subsumed surrounding areas. Blank’s suite in Atlanta is two-stories, while both the New York Islanders’ and Current’s owners’ suites are double-wide. The Cohen’s suite in Queens is also much larger than other suites at the stadium. Within their suites, the owner’s DNA is often present—for example, Blank serves food on plates imprinted with his initials.
“We’re designing for what is the next level of impressing your guests,” says Isabelle Rijnties, an interior design director for Populous, the firm behind stadiums for teams like FC Cincinnati and the Minnesota Twins. Rijnties has designed owners’ suites that can accommodate mixologists and chefs.
But building what ends up being “small apartments within these confined spaces,” says Franklin, presents unusual challenges. Despite the extensive budgets behind these mega-boxes, the construction site is unlike any residential project, as the whole stadium is being built up alongside the owners’ suite. Dillon says it was a process “like very few in the world,” because 3,000 construction workers descend upon the same site.
“There are accessibility issues. There are issues with the [sports] team often being in the space at the same time,” says Rijnties.
And, as with everything, there’s still a hierarchy among the haves and have-mores. Location matters. “The center suites are the most desirable ones,” says Rijnties. But then there’s yet another defining factor.
“Most of the really good [boxes] have private bathrooms in the suite,” says Galatioto, “so you don’t have to go out and deal with the gen pop.”
Andrew Zucker works at a production company in New York City. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and Air Mail, among other publications.
